1101 Remembering the Past While Planning for the Future

In the late 1920s, Eliel Saarinen designed a home on campus for himself and his wife, Loja, where they lived from 1930 until Eliel’s death in 1950. Saarinen House featured an extraordinary interior of original furnishings by Eliel, textiles by Loja, and early furniture designs by their son, Eero. After Eliel’s death the home became the residence for subsequent directors of the Art Academy, and the Saarinen-designed furnishings were distributed amongst family members or moved into storage. In 1990, Roy Slade and then Curator of Collections, Gregory Wittkopp, spearheaded a campaign to restore the home to its original art deco splendor. The project took four painstaking years to complete, and shortly before the house opened, Slade retired and Wittkopp was promoted to director of Cranbrook Art Museum. Since 1994, Saarinen House has been open to the public for tours each year from spring to early fall, and remains one of Cranbrook’s most beloved architectural treasures.